Fluorescence in elemental analysis

The use of fluorescence techniques in analysis is very extensive and any detailed discussion is way beyond the scope of this book. There are several textbooks on this topic and, to aid any reader requiring further information, two of the most recent books are given in the references.  

Fluorometric methods have been developed for determining the concentrations of more than 50 elements in the periodic table. These methods depend on the measurement of changes in the fluorescence intensity of a fluorescent dye on interaction with the species to be analysed. The concentration of the substance being analysed is proportional to the fluorescence intensity, determined from calibration curves. The interactions can take the form of ionic associates between a dye cation and a metal complex anion, e.g. AgBrj with a rhodamine cation, or alternatively with a fluorescent dye anion, e.g. fluorescein and a complex cation. In another method, the changes 

6 Fluorescence in Biological, Medical and Drug Development Applications 

Visible and near-infrared fluorescent emitters are being applied in the medical imaging fleld. Examples include cancer diagnosis, ophthalmology, cardiac surgery and in the treatment of bums. (See also Chapter 4, section 4.6). 

In any application the fluorescence detection systems must have four compatible elements  

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